By Frederic Germay
Although the show still remains enthralling and mesmerizing, “Heroes” has yet to deliver a strong central mission for its second season. The first plot arc of the freshman season had the premise of “save the cheerleader, save the world,” but that was only introduced after a couple episodes of developing the characters. This season doesn’t really seem to have that strong central mission, with the exception of smaller mission that seem to be devoted to specific characters. For example, Takezo Kensei plot line seems to be solely devoted to Hiro’s character, excluding practically all of the recurring heroes from last season. Fortunately, this season just started, and it has quite a few episodes to go before it is categorized as a sophomore slump.
Speaking of Kensei, it seemed inevitable to me from the get-go that when Hiro encountered the real Kensei (played by the enjoyable Mr. Sark…er…David Anders) that Hiro would end up either being Kensei or being directly responsible for Kensei’s future history. I would like to think that Hiro would end replacing Kensei and fulfill his aspirations of being a Hero, but it seems as though Sark has some powers as well…so that could also play an interesting part in the equation.
Claire is understandably ready to dispose of her nobody status, and adopt a different personality closer to her real nature. She also begins to wonder exactly how far her regenerative powers can go. Although I’m quite positive that the first season yielded a similar gory instance of how her fingers can regenerate, it seems that the writers wanted to make this particular plot fresh. Claire’s admirer, who also possesses the ability to fly, discovered her in the process of cutting one of her toes off and having it regenerate. I have to admit that I am not really fascinated with this plot twist. However, I do wonder whether Claire’s powers allow her to have a lessened sense of pain. Last time I saw someone have their toe cut off on television, it was Michael Scofield in the second episode of “Prison Break,” and that seemed considerably less pleasant than Claire’s meek grimace of pain.
On the other hand, Peter has recovered with no recollection of his identity, but he seems to have rediscovered his potential in the realm of unique powers. However, he is forced by his captives to steal money in order to recover information about his identity, which I suppose is a barely acceptable character motivator for Peter. Having been at the center of the unfolding story last season, his storyline now seems forced and almost irrelevant in the scheme of things.
Noah Bennet once again takes the cake for being the most interesting character of the episode. His difficult decision to keep his family together and keep no secrets are start to conflict with his hidden agenda of revenge against the company that is hindering his family’s freedom. However, he is brought together, with perhaps his only true ally, the Haitian.
Overall, this episode was even slower than last week’s episode. There was a lot of character development, which should soon lead to a strong central mission in the next few episodes. I’m guessing that the virus will play a strong part in that, but I certainly hope that the mission doesn’t consist of the virus alone. “Stop the virus, save the world” would indeed be quite a lame catchphrase among other things. Fortunately, the season is still young and there is plenty of time to develop the story. I give this episode a 7/10
